The Big Question: 'How will life in cities be different in the next decade?'

This article was taken from the December 2011 issue of Wired
magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before
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The big question: "How will life in cities be different in the
next decade?"

"Cities are the greatest expression of human civilisation. We
come together in cities to live, work, play and create. Without
question, cities are the primary social and economic organising
units of our time."

"Two extremes: the Mega City with vast slums, and the
Intelligent City. Slums will be full of working people and fighting
gangs, and be 'uncensored'. 'Censored' cities dilute the political
and the capacity of cities to make history."

"The physical city won't change much, but our experience will be
so hyper-optimised by the convergence of data-, mobile- and
location-aware services, that our daily lives will be transformed.
But how will being optimised really feel?"

"Cities and suburbs will learn to accommodate simultaneous
live/work spaces for informal economies, and will learn to create
the required energy from something we seem to have no problem
producing - sewage and rubbish."

"The trends are clear: less sprawl, more intensity, smaller
format stores, more biking, more walking, more public space, less
private space. The hybridisation of space, jobs and neighbourhoods
will connect people in new, unexpected ways."